After an enforced weeks break because of Dagenham’s withdrawal from the league, Brentwood headed off to another familiar foe in the shape of Eton Manor for their second league game of the season. Manor had won their opening two games at home to Harlow and away at Holt and, with Brentwood not having won at Nutter Lane since 2019, it was going to need a big performance.

In spite of the fact that it has been an otherwise lovely, sunny day a heavy shower decided to roll in bang on the 3pm kick off time and made the opening exchanges soggy ones. Brentwood though controlled the game in the opening ten, keeping possession and playing in the right areas of the pitch and from this solid foundation came a well-worked and patient opening try.

Brentwood had been moving the ball nicely, mixing some heavy crashes up the middle from the likes of James Vogel, Will McArthur and George Bassenger with spreading it wide from touchline to touchline; Isaac Kibirige and Alex Roberts causing trouble on the wings and Ewan May given freedom to roam and be a nuisance. Having worked to within 5 metres out, Brentwood were rewarded for their efforts when Sam Cappaert rushed to the blindside from the ruck, giving Brentwood a numerical advantage – the pop pass over the top putting Alex Roberts in for the try. Sam added the conversion, 0-7.

It was of course not unexpected that Manor would battle back and 6 minutes later with Brentwood under the cosh too close to their own try line, Will McArthur saw yellow for what the referee considered a cynical ruck infringement. Manor put the ball in the corner and their maul, which had already looked a threat, had one less man to defend it and surged over in the corner. With the conversion missing 5-7, but at least the sun had come back out…

Manor made the most of their man advantage and scored their second try during the sin bin period. Brentwood had defended manfully but had spent large periods in their own 22 and, having conceded a penalty, Manor opted for the scrum. The scrum was solid, and Brentwood’s 7 men held strong, but Manor managed to get a slight blindside wheel followed by some slick back’s handling which allowed them to squeeze in at the corner, 10-7.

A scoreless 15 minutes followed, a lot of it played in the middle third as both teams tried to gain the upper hand in what was turning into a compelling encounter, and with the half time whistle the consensus from the Brentwood touchline regulars was that actually, it was going pretty well.

The second half started strongly for Brentwood, a Manor offside on the ten metre line giving Sam Cappaert a 3 point opportunity which he took to draw the scores level at 10-10.

Just 6 minutes later it got better still. Brentwood’s aggressive defence had caused a knock on just outside Manor’s 22, rewarding them with a well-placed attacking scrum. The ball went wide quickly to Luke Watson who carried strongly to take Brentwood into the 22. Brentwood went blind a couple of times before the ball was spun wide once more, Eamon Tiernan pulling it back nicely to Sam Cappaert before Ewan May took it up. The ball was out quickly to James Killington who did well to recover a kneecap height pass before pulling in the wide defender and getting the pass out to Isaac Kibirige in some space. There was still plenty to do but Isaac put the burners on, riding the Manor cover tackles to dot the ball down in the corner for a well finished try. Sam added the extras, 10-17.

Of course, in true Brentwood fashion, just as I was starting to think things were going to plan, the restart went awry, a kick got charged down and despite a scrabbling recovery, Manor had the opportunity to immediately make amends. A scrum followed by a tapped free kick saw Manor move the ball well once again and despite a couple of colossal tackles on the line, too much of a gap was left down the side of a ruck which Manor duly exploited and the scores were level again, 17-17.

Brentwood though remained unrattled (unlike my nerves) and immediately set about getting momentum back, a strong maul defence effort dampening Manor’s spirits before Alex Roberts took about 4 players to bring him down carrying through the middle and George Bassenger followed up swiftly with another big , ground-making carry (may also have been where he acquired two beautiful black eyes…) and Brentwood won a ruck penalty. Whilst the lineout didn’t quite go to plan, Brentwood remained resolutely in Manor’s half, eventually getting the ball back and another penalty which was this time kickable, Sam Cappaert taking the 3 and giving Brentwood a slender lead, 17-20.

Brentwood really now had the wind in their sails and another few penalties got them back downfield, Manor picking up a yellow card in the process. The penalty this time was significantly closer to the posts, so the option was taken to kick. Evidently it was too close and missed, hitting the post… but 5 minutes later Sam did add another 3 after an aggressive Jack Mayes chop tackle had allowed Eamon Tiernan to get over the ball, 17-23.

With 15 to go Manor were certainly not going to give up and a slightly baffling penalty from the restart (Whalo doesn’t give away penalties!) gave them immediate opportunity but Brentwood defended stoutly and escaped unscathed, just.

Brentwood, however, couldn’t extend their lead further and although time was ticking, with less than a converted try in it a nerve-wracking end to the game ensued. Brentwood had been steadily getting on the wrong side of the penalty count, Manor entrenched on the attack deep in the Bentwood half but could not quite find a way through Brentwood’s solid defensive line. A big tackle in midfield from Luke Watson looked like it may finally have killed Manor’s momentum, but Brentwood went off their feet in the ruck giving Manor one last go at the win. Towards the corner the ball went, presumably the maul was coming but we’ll never know…a dummy throw called and with that a free kick which Sam Cappaert walloped into touch for full time; relief on the touchline, jubilation on the pitch.

For Brentwood this was a really solid and well-earned win in a fixture that is never easy; Manor are a good team and you would expect they will be in the top of the table mix come the end of the season but Brentwood controlled the game for large swathes and, importantly, took most of the opportunities presented to them.

Bruises aside, sadly this win did come at a cost with try-scoring Isaac unfortunately breaking his wrist (Pitch side analysis at the time from Jack Rocke “Oh that does not look good, it’s actually made me feel a bit sick…” ) and we wish him a speedy recovery.

Brentwood’s next fixture is their first home game of the season against newly promoted Wymondham who won Eastern Counties 1 last season with 19 wins in 22 games. They have won 2 of their opening 3 in this league against Holt and Stowmarket but have lost to Harlow. With the Gibbo Cup also being played and a family funday in full swing, Brentwood will be hoping to put in another big performance for what should be a good home crowd to maintain their winning start to the season.